Yarn control for knitting machines



Sept. 13, 1966 B. F. COILE 3,

YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Original Filed Jan. 6, 1953 ll Sheets-Sheet 1 26 INVENTOR Benjamin Franklin Coile ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 B. F. COILE 3,271,979

YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Original Filed Jan. 6, 1953 ll Sheets-Sheet 2 L; V I.

l LOJ I NVENTOR Benjamin Franklin Coile lX/MQZM ATTORNEY B. F. COILE 3,271,979

YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES l], Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. 13, 1966 Original Filed Jan. 6, 1953 INVENTOR Benjamin Franklin Coile ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 B. F. COILE 3,271,979

YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Original Filed Jan. 6, 1953 ll Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VENTOR 26 Benjamin Franklin Coile BY clam/6M ATTOR NEY Sept. 13, 1966 B. F. COILE YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES ll Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Jan. 6, 1953 INVENTOR Benjamin Franklin Coile ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 B. F. come YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES ll Sheets-Sheet 7 Original Filed Jan. 6

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 B. F. COlLE 3,271,979

YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Original Filed Jan. 6, 1953 ll heet 8 INVENTOR Benjamin Franklin Coile ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 B. F. COILE YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES 11, Sheets-Sheet 9 Original Filed Jan. 6, 1953 B. F. COILE 3,271,979 YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES 1953 ll Sheets-Sheet 10 Sept. 13, 1966 Original Filed Jan. 6

V.- W m U T T. A

Sept. 13, 1966 B. F. COILE YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES ll Sheets-Sheet 11 Original Filed Jan. 6, 1953 Benjamin Franklin Coile A TTOR NE Y United States Patent 3,271,979 YARN CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Benjamin Franklin Coile, Athens, Ga., assignor to Textile Machine Works, Wyomissing, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application Jan. 6, 1953, Ser. No. 329,801, now Patent No. 3,136,145, dated July 9, 1964. Divided and this application Mar. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 352,090 11 Claims. (Cl. 66-140) The present invention relates to knitting machines and more particularly to certain features of automatic multifeed circular knitting machines as disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 329,801, filed January 6, 1953, now Patent No. 3,136,145 issued July 9, 1964, of which the present application is a division.

The instant application is primarily directed to the yarn control mechanism of said prior co-pending application and more specifically concerns the yarn take-up means, the clamping and cutter means, and the stop means disclosed therein. The principal object is the provision of a knitting machine having improved mechanisms of the type referred to.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a yarn take-up mechanism including yarn take-up wires adapted to be moved out of action whenever the yarn associated therewith has been cut by a yarn severing mechanism so that the wires will notpull-the severed ends of the yarn out from under a yarn clamping means.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for controlling the yarn take-up wires which can be actuated under control of a main pattern control drum or any other selected rotating part of the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a yarn severing device including a drum for operating a cutting blade on one or more sets of severing mechanisms depending upon the number of yarn feeds employed and which drum can be actuated by a pattern control drum or any other selected rotating part of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide yarn binding or clamping means effective for simultaneously holding a plurality of severed yarns and which will permit the yarns thus held to be individually withdrawn from the clamping means without causing the remaining yarns held by the same clamping means to be pulled out from under such clamping means.

A still further object is to provide means for preventing the fabric being knitted from fouling with the yarn fed at one point around the cylinder and carried to another point around the cylinder without having been knitted in.

A still further object is to provide stop means that will automatically stop the machine whenever a yarn breaks or has excessive slack, or a yarn has not been severed that should have been severed by the yarn severing mechanism.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG, 1 is a front elevational view of \a knitting machine embodying the principles of the instant invention;

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FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1 at a level below the yarn cone supporting frames;

FIG. 3 is a left side elevational view of the machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a right side elevational view of the machine;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a development of the cams on a right pattern control drum assembly;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a pin layout for the control drums for the yarn take-up wires and the control drum for the yarn cutting mechanism;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIG. 1 and illustrating one of the yarn tensioning and takeup devices;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic perspective view illustrating a portion of the pattern control drum cams, levers, etc. for controlling one group of the yarn take-up devices;

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the electrical control circuit for the machine;

FIG. 11 is an elevational view partly in section of the yarn cutting mechanism and its four sets of cutting blades, yarn clamping springs, etc.;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 1313 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 14-14 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 15-15 of FIG. 13 and illustrating the clamping means for the rubber yarn; and

FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic view illustrating pattern control drum, levers, etc. for actuating the cutter control drum.

In the following description the knitting machine as a whole will be explained only briefly, detail being given only with respect to those parts and their operationinvolved in the yarn handling mechanisms including the yarn take-up, clamp and cutter and stop motion devices claimed herein. For a further understanding of other parts of the machine and their association with the features herein specifically described reference may be made to said co-pending application. For ease in so doing the parts described in the present application are given the same reference characters as are applied thereto in said prior application.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1 to 4 a knitting machine embodying the instant invention comprises a main frame including a plurality of superimposed platforms mounted upon sectional columns. The lowermost platform comprises a single plate 25 which rests upon four column sections each identified by the number 26. Similar column sections 27 are disposed above the platform 25 in alignment with columns 26. An intermediate platform comprising a single plate 29 rests upon the upper ends of the column sections 27 and similar but taller column sections 30 are disposed above the platform 29 in vertical alignment with the column sections 27. A top platform general-1y identified by the numeral 32 is supported by the upper ends of the column sections 30 and comprises a front plate 33 and a rear plate 34.

The machine is preferably provided with its own individual drive and to this end a standard constant speed electrical motor 48 is provided and has its base 49 supported through suitable connections to posts 26 at one side (left side of FIG. 1) of the machine. The machine drive in addition includes a conventional type speed reducer 54 and a friction clutch generally identified by the numeral 61 and additional mechanisms whereby a needle cylinder 262 (FIG. 11) and a plurality of jack cylinders J-l to J-S mounted below the needle cylinder may have both rotary and reciprocating motion imparted thereto. The driving elements of the machine also include a shaft .176 which makes one rotation for each four rotations of the cylinder and hence is conventionally termed a quarter-turn shaft. The function of the shaft 176 in imparting motion at selected times to certain pattern mechanisms of the machine will be hereinafter referred to.

With further reference to the general characteristics of the machine it includes main pattern control drum assemblies R and L havin'g top drums R6 and L6 respectively. The pattern drum assemblies R and L each have twenty-four moves imparted thereto during a complete cycle of operation of the machine through the medium of a pawling mechanism driven by the quarter-turn shaft 176, the pawling mechanism being under the control of the main pattern chain 315.

The machine has four yarn feeding and knitting stations designated as No. 1 to No. 4 feeds (see FIG. 2). A plurality of yarn feed fingers, four being shown, are mounted for selective movement into and out of operative positions at each of the yarn feed stations, movement of the yarn feeding fingers to and from operative position being under the control of drums 409 to 4090.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and electrical current for operating the motor 48 is supplied to the machine through a cable 90 (FIG. 4) containing the usual main line conductors A and A (FIG. 10). The cable 90 is also connected with a box 92 suitably mounted upon the right rear column section 30 and provided with a pair of outlets 93 to which electric light extension cords or other electric apparatus may be conveniently connected. A portion 90a (FIG. 4) of the cable 90 extends to a control box 94 mounted upon the right front column section 30.

The box 94 includes a Start button 95 and a Stop button 96. Another portion 96b of the cable 90 extends to a conventional electromagnetic switch 97 (FIG. '10) which is energized under normal conditions to complete the circuit to the motor 48 by pushing the Start button 95. The Stop button 96 is arranged to interrupt the circuit to the electromagnetic switch 97 to stop the machine. Switch 97 interrupts the circuit to the motor 48 whenever it is de-energized either manually or through power failure. Switch 97 is further useful in connection with the stop mechanism for stopping the machine in the event of yarn breakage, etc. as will be pointed out more fully hereinafter.

The features of the machine to which the instant application is specifically directed will now be described.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the yarn which is fed to the yarn feed fingers at the No. l to No. 4 feeds is supplied by bobbins supported upon a platform 450 mounted by screws 451 upon posts 38. Additional posts 452 are mounted upon the platform 450 and a transverse member 453 is secured to the upper ends of the posts 452 by screws 454. A plurality of arms 455 is mounted on the transverse member 453 by screws 456. The transverse member 453 and the arms 455 carry yarn guides 457, one for each yarn fed to the needles N (FIG. 11). Correspondingly, a plurality of bobbin posts 458 is mounted upon the platform 550, one for each bobbin.

The tension of the several yarns fed to the knitting needles is controlled by a yarn tensioni-ng and take-up mechanism comprising two groups of control devices, each group in the present machine being adapted to contool the tension of a maximum of eight yarns. However, this number can be increased or decreased to suit the requirements to be met by a particular machine. One group of take-up cont-r01 devices is actuated in accordance with the movements of the drum assembly L and the other group is actuated in accordance with the movements of the drum assembly R, although it will be readily understood that any selected rotating part or parts of the machine other than the drum assemblies L and R could be used to actuate the yarn take-up mechanisms, as various patterns may require. Accordingly, post 459 at the right side of the machine is utilized to support one group, and the post 460 at the left side of the machine is utilized to support the other group. A bracket 461 is mounted upon the upper end of the post 459 and a similar bracket 462 is mounted upon the upper end of the post 460. A shaft 463 is mounted upon the bracket 461 and a similar shaft 464 is mounted upon the bracket 462.

The remaining structure of both take-up mechanisms is the same and the take-up mechanism at the right side of the machine including one of the individual take-up devices will be described in detail and its parts identified by reference numerals; the take-up mechanism at the left side of the machine having the corresponding parts will be referred to by the same numerals, but with the ex ponenit a added thereto. Thus a ratchet wheel 465 (FIGS. 7 and 8) is fixed to the shaft 463 for imparting intermittent rotary movement thereto. A plate 466 is disposed adjacent the ratchet Wheel 465 and is retained in position by a collar 467 secured to the shaft 463. A pawl 468 is pivotally mounted upon a pin 469 carried by the plate 466. The opposite end of the pawl 468 is adapted to successively engage the twenty-four teeth of the ratchet wheel 465. A spring 470 has one end thereof connected to the pawl 468 by a pin 471 and its opposite end is connected to the plate 466 by a pin 472. Therefore, the free end of the pawl 468 is constantly urged toward the ratchet wheel 465.

One end of a link 473 is connected to the plate 466, and the opposite end of said link is pivotally connected at 475, FIG. 9, to one end of a bell crank lever 476, which in turn is mounted upon a pivot pin 477 carried by a bracket 478 fastened to the post 459. A link 479- connects the opposite end of the lever 476 with one end of a horizontally disposed lever 480 pivotally mounted upon the pin 481. The opposite end of the lever 480 is adapted to be successively engaged by the lugs 323a on the kick ring 323 secured to the drum R-6. One end of a spring 483 is connected to a hook 484 mounted on the plate 466 and its opposite end (FIG. 4) is connected to a hook 484a mounted on the post 459. The spring 483 normally urges the plate 466 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 7, and also urges the offset end of the clever 480 toward the kick ring 323. As the lever 480 rides off a lug 323a, the spring 483 will cause the end of said lever to enter into the space between adjacent lugs 323a and at the same time retract the plate 466 and the pawl 468 for engagement with the next tooth of the ratchet wheel 465. As the kick ring 323 completes its move, the lever 480 will ride up the inclined face of one of the lugs 323a and positively actuate the plate 466 and the pawl 468 through the link 473 to cause the ratchet wheel 465 to be moved through one step of its movement. There are twenty-four teeth on the ratchet wheel 465 so that the ratchet wheel is turned through one complete revolution in timed sequence with the twenty-four moves of the pattern control drum R6.

The ratchet wheel 465 is retained in place, while the pawl 468 is being retracted, by a brake device comprising a spring strip 485 secured to the bracket 461 by a screw 486. A brake shoe or strip of friction material 487 is carried by the spring 485 and is engaged with an enlarged hub portion 488 of the ratchet wheel 465. The spring 485 is stiff enough to press the brake shoe 487 against the ratchet hub 488 with sufficient force to retain the ratchet wheel 465 in the positions to which it is successively moved by the pawl 468 and to prevent overtravel through inertia.

The yarn fed to the yarn fingers at the No. 1 to No. 4 feeds is maintained under the desired tension during knitting by individual tensioning devices, eight of which are mounted upon each bracket 461 and 462. The tensioning devices on the bracket 461 are designated t-1 to t-S and the tensioning devices on the bracket 462 are designated t-9 to t-16 (FIG. 1). These tensioning devices are all similar and, therefore, a detailed description of one will suflice for all.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, wherein the tensioning device t-5 is shown, the same comprises a bar 490 disposed in a transverse groove 491 formed in the horizontal flange of the bracket 461 and is secured to said bracket by a screw 492. The bar 490 is thus maintained rigid with the bracket 461 at all times. A yarn guide 493 carrying an eyelet 494 is secured to the rear end of the bar 490 by a screw 49-5. Another yarn guide 496 having an eyelet 497 is secured to the front end of the bar 490 .by a screw 498. The screw 498 also secures a bracket 499 to the bar 490 and a conventional, adjustable yarn tensioning device 500 is mounted upon said bracket, tension being applied to the yarn y-9 as it passes between discs 5G1 and 502 by a spring 503 that presses the disc 501 toward the disc 502. The tension on the yarn y-9 can be changed by varying the load imposed by the spring 503 and this can be done by adjusting a nut 504 mounted on a threaded stem 505 that extends through the discs 501 and 502. The bracket 499 has an opening 506 through which the yarn y-9 is guided to the discs 501 and 502, said opening being disposed approximately in the same plane as the confronting faces of said discs.

Another bar 507 is disposed in a vertical groove 508 formed in the front face of the vertical flange of the bracket 461 and is secured in said groove by a screw 509. The bar 507 carries vertically spaced yarn guides 510 and 511. A rectangular block 512 is pivotally mounted upon a pivot 513 carried by the bar 490. A pin 514 extends laterally from the block 512 and is adapted to be engaged by one end of a take-up Wire locking arm 515 pivotally mounted upon the bar 490 by a pivot 516. An adjustable stop 517 is mounted on the bracket 461 and limits the movement of the arm 515 toward the bracket. A tension spring 518 has one end thereof secured to the arm 515 by a pin 519 and its other end is secured to a pin 520 on the bar 507. Thus, the spring 518 tends to maintain the arm 515 in engagement with the stop 517.

A yarn take-up wire 521 is fixed to the block 512 at its upper end and its lower end is bent toward the bar 507 and carries an eyelet 522 through which the yarn y-9 passes. One end of a link 523 is pivotally connected to the block 512 by a pin 524 located upon a common diametrical line passing through the pivot 513, but on the side of said pivot opposite to that of the pin 514. One end of a tension spring 525 is connected to the other end of the link 523 and the opposite end of said spring is connected to a pin 526 on the bar 507. The spring 525 is weaker than the spring 518 so that the arm 515 engaged with the pin 514 normally maintains the block 512 in the position shown in FIG. 7 with the eyelet 522 of the take-up wire 521 disposed between the yarn guides 510 and 511. At this time, the wire 521 does not exert any force on the yarn between the guides 510 and 511, since the parts are shown corresponding to a period in the cycle when the yarn 3 -9 is out of action. However, the wire 521 is adapted to be released to take up the slack in the yarn y-9 during knitting of said yarn, and to function as an element of an automatic stop mechanism for the machine, by means which will now be described.

A yarn take-up control drum 527 is fixed to the shaft 463 so that it must turn with said shaft. The drum 527 has twenty-four threaded radial openings formed therein, all equally spaced about the circumference of the drum and lying in a common plane. A single pin 528 is mounted in a selected opening of this particular drum since only one pin is required to control the operation of the take-up wire 521 in the stocking pattern shown. An arm 529 is mounted at one end thereof on the pivot 516 and has a downwardly projecting lug 530 at its opposite end adapted to be engaged by the pin 528 on the drum 527. The arm 5-29 is secured to the arm 515 at a point adjacent the lug 530 by a screw 531, so that both arms are required to move simultaneously. Actually, the arms 515 and 529 could be formed as an integral structure, if desired. The lug 530 is engaged by the pin 528 only when the yarn y-9 associated with the take-up wire 521 is to be knitted, and the pin 528 controls the wire 521 in timed relation to the operation of the yarn feed finger f-9 (FIG. 6) associated with the same yarn. Thus, as the pin 528 engages the lug 530, the arms 515 and 529 are moved from the full line position shown in FIG. 7 to that shown in dot and-dash lines. The free end of the arm 515 is thus raised against the force exerted by the spring 518, and this permits the relatively weaker spring 525 to tend to cause the block 512 to rotate counterclockwise on the pivot 513 and raise the take-up finger 521 through a corresponding angle to take up any slack present in the yarn y-9. Meanwhile, the yarn feed finger f-9 will have been lowered to present the yarn to the needles N to be picked up and knitted thereby. In the event that the yarn y-9 should break or have excessive slack, then the block 512 and the yarn take-up wire 521 will rotate through an angle sufficient to cause the wire 521 to assume the substantially horizontal position shown in dot-and-dash lines and engage a contact bar 532 to complete a circuit to a relay 521a (FIG. 10) that will de-energize the switch 97 to thereby automatically stop the machine, as will be described in further detail later. The contact bar 532 is as long as the bracket 461 and is attached to a strip 533 of insulating material of equal length, so that the take-up wires 521 of all eight tensioning devices t-l to t-S can engage said bar. The insulating strip 533 is secured by screws 534 to the ends of several of the bars 490 at a point below the brackets 496. A contact bar 532a (FIG. 1) and an insulating strip 533a are are similarly mounted upon the bracket 462, with the contact bars interconnected by a conductor 532b.

It will be understood that the lug 530 will ride off the pin 528 when the yarn 3 -9 is to be taken out of action and at such time the spring 518 will pull the arm 515 down into engagement with the stop screw 517, and through the engagement of the arm 515 with the pin 514, the block 512 will be rotated clockwise to return the wire 521 to the full line, inactive, position shown in FIG. 7.

It will be understood that a take-up control drum 527 is associated with each of the take-up devices t-l to t-16 and that the take-up devices t-1 to t-8, and t-9 to t-16 are respectively controlled by the pattern control drums L-6 and R-6, as previously described. The manner in which the pins are arranged in the several drums 527 for controlling selected take-up wires 521 is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 6. The pin arrangement on the yarn feed control drums 409, 409a, 40912, and 4090 for controlling their associated yarn feed fingers is also shown in FIG. 6 for knitting a stocking having an Argyle or diamond pattern. In general, certain of the yarn take-up devices t-l to t-16 are adapted to have their wires 521 released to take up slack in the yarn during knitting, and to be constrained to an inactive position when the yarn is out of action. The purpose of the latter is to prevent the take-up wires 521 from pulling the severed end of a yarn out from under yarn clamping means associated. with a yarn cutting mechanism which will now be described.

The yarn cutting mechanism is *best shown in FIGS. 11 to 15. This mechanism is located above the top plates 33 and 34 and between the No. 2 and No. 3 feeds, as is best illustrated in FIG. 2. Yarn cutting mechanism includes means for cutting the yarns at the No. 1 to No. 4 feeds, means for clamping the yarns while being severed and also means for holding down the fabric that has already been knitted to prevent the same from interfering with the formation of new stitches on the needles, all as will appear more fully hereinafter.

The yarn cutting mechanism comprises a frame including parallel side plates 540 '(FIG. 12) and 541 connected together at one end by an end plate 542 and screws 543. The opposite ends of the plates 540 and 541 are connected to a block 544 by screws 545. A shaft 546 extends through suitable openings in the plates 540 and 541 and the opposite ends of said shaft are secured to arms 547 by screws 548. Blocks 549 are, in turn, adjustably mounted upon the arms 547 by means of screws 550. The inner ends of the blocks 549 are split and clamped by screws 551 to the posts 401a and 400!) above the arms 404a and 40% to which the shafts 406a and 4061) are respectively secured. The screws 551 are threaded into the portions of the blocks 549 nearest the frame and their inner ends project into engagement with the plates 540 and 541 while their outer ends extend through plain holes 551a in said blocks. Jam nuts 551b serve the dual purpose of locking the screws 551 in adjusted position and clamping the blocks 549 on the posts 401a and 4001). Additional screws 552 are threaded into the arms 547 with their inner ends abutting the plates 540 and 541 and are locked in place by jam nuts 552a. The frame is radially centered relative to the axis of the needle cylinder by proper adjustment of the screws 551 and 552 so that they abut, but do not bind against the plates 540 and 541. The screws 550 permit angular adjustment of the blocks 549 with respect to the arms 547.

A yarn cutter control drum 553 is rotatably mounted upon the shaft 546 and a ratchet wheel 554 is fixed to said drum. A plate 555 is mounted for oscillatory movement on the hub of the ratchet wheel 554. A pawl 556 is mounted upon a pivot 557 carried by the plate 555. One end of a spring 558 is secured to a pin 559 mounted on the pawl 556 and the opposite end of said spring is secured to a pin 560 mounted on the plate 555. The spring 558 is under tension and functions to urge the free end of the pawl 556 toward the ratchet wheel 554. The ratchet wheel 554 has twenty-four teeth, corresponding to the number of moves of the pattern wheel 237, when it is controlled by a pattern control drum, but may have any other necessary number of teeth when controlled by another selected rotating part of the machine or when a particular pattern requires a different number of moves. The pattern wheel 237 controls the operation of the drum 553 by mechanism which will be described later. It will be understood that in the machine disclosed herein, the drum 553 rotates through one complete revolution for each complete revolution of the pattern control drums L and R. The drum 553 has four rows of threaded holes, each row having twenty-four holes to enable suitable cams to be conveniently mounted on the drum on any part of the periphery thereof. FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates a development of the periphery of the drum and shows the various cams, identified later, which are mounted thereon for controlling the operation of yarn cutting devices which will also be described later.

The block 544 (FIG. 12) has four slots in which levers 561, 562, 563 and 564 are disposed. These levers are pivotally mounted upon a pin 565 carried by the block 544. A tension spring 566 is connected to each of the levers 561 to 564 and is also connected to a common pin 567 mounted in the side plates 54d and 541. The springs 566 constantly urge the outer ends of the levers 561 to 564 toward the control drum 553. An extension 568 is secured to the underside of the block 544 by a screw 569 and a jam nut 569a. The forward end of the plate 568 has an elongated slot 570 which overlies a cubelike block 571 and bolt 572 extends through the slot 570 and is threaded in an opening 573 (FIG. 14) formed in a boss 573a on the upper side of a binder plate 574. The elongated slot 570 provides means whereby the block 571 and the binder plate 574 can be adjusted so that their centers are axially aligned with the center of the needle cylinder 262 (see FIG. 11). The binder plate 574 also has a boss 575 formed on its lower side and a circular hold-down disc or plate 576 is centered on said boss and secured to the block 571 by screws 577 that project through suitable openings in the binder plate 574. The disc 576 has a boss 578 on its upper side engaged with the lower side of the binder plate 574 to provide a space or groove 576a between said disc and the binder plate 574, to receive the yarns that are in action when the machine is in reciprocating motion, so that when the cylinder reverses, the yarn can be taken up when the needles are raised and there will be no loose ends or loops in the vicinity of the needles, it being observed that the boss 578 on the disc 576 is provided with an undercut groove for the specific purpose of preventing any fugitive yarn which enters the space 5760 from being caught at the juncture between the binder plate 574 and the disc 576. Normally, the yarns being knitted do not penetrate the space 576a to the depth of the boss 578, and the undercut is provided to deal with a fugitive yarn or a yarn that should have been cut but inadvertently was not. Since the boss 578 is undercut, it automatically directs yarn away from the binder plate 574 and into the deepest part of the groove where it cannot get caught. However, as will appear later, the present machine includes means adapted to be actuated by such yarn to automatically stop the machine.

As will be apparent from FIG. 13, the block 571 has its sides disposed in non-parallel relation with the center line of the extension 568 in order to locate the same in proper relation to the No. 1 to No. 4 feeds of the machine. The binder plate 574 has four grooves 579, 579a, 57% and 5790, formed in its upper face and disposed parallel with the sides of the block 571. A shear blade 580 sets the groove 579 and is in part secured to the block 571 by a screw 581. Similar blades 580a and 5801; and 5800 are set in the grooves 579a, 579b, and 5790, respectively, and are similarly secured to the block 571 by screws 581a, 581b, and 5810. Cooperating movable shear blades 582, 582a, 5821) and 5820 are pivotally mounted at a point about medially of their length upon screws 583, 583a, 5832) and 583e, respectively, which are also threaded into the block 571. A spring is disposed under the head of each of the screws 583 to 5830 and presses the movable shear blades 582 to 582a against the stationary shear blades 580 to 580a to assure proper cutting action. The blades 580a and 582a sever the yarns taken out of action at the No. 1 feed, the blades 58012 and 58% sever the yarns taken out of action at the No. 2 feed, the blades 580a and 582C sever the yarns taken out of action at the No. 3 feed, and the blades 580 and 582 sever the yarns taken out of action at the No. 4 feed.

A stifi wire 584 (FIG. 11) extends through an opening in the extension 568 and has its lower end provided with a head and pivotally connected to the blade 582a. The opposite end of the wire 584 has threads upon which a block 585 is adjustably mounted. After the block 585 has been adjusted to the proper position on the wire 584, it is pivotally secured to the lever 562 by a screw 586. The blades 582, 582:! and 5821; are similarly connected to the *levers 561, 564 and 563, respectively, by similar parts which have been given the same reference numerals but have had the exponents a, b, and c, respectively, added thereto to dinstinguish the parts from each other.

The binder plate 574 (FIG. 13) is provided with generally rectangular recesses 587, 587a, 587b and 5870, respectively, which are defined in part by somewhat pointed and upwardly curved tongues 588, 588a, 588b and 5880 disposed at the outer periphery of the plate.

As the needlecylinder 262 is rotated or reciprocated during knitting, the yarns to be withdrawn from knitting at the various feed stations are caught under pairs of clamping springs 589, 589a, 58% and 589C, respectively, secured to the upper side of the binder plate 574 by screws 590, 59011, 59012 and 590C, respectively, as is best shown in FIG. 13. The clamping springs of each pair overlap at substantially right angles and have the outer ends thereof turned upwardly, as best shown in FIG. 14. The yarn to be severed, as shown in FIG. 13, is actually clamped under the lowermost spring of each pair of springs and the uppermost spring functions merely as a booster spring to exert additional force for tightly clamping a yarn against the upper surface of the binder plate 574.

The yarn feed fingers at the No. 1 to No. 4 feeds are controlled to operate in relatively timed relation to the sets of shear blades 580a-582a, 580b582b, 5800-5820, and 580582, respectively, so that as a given yarn finger is raised the yarn will be caught under one of the sets of spring clamps 589 to 589C and the corresponding movable shear blade will have been raised by its associated lever and cam on the drum 553 to a position to receive the yarn therebeneath and then actuated by a spring 566 acting on said lever to sever the clamped yarn as it lies between the stationary and movable blades. The severed end of the yarn is maintained clamped by the clamping springs, as indicated in FIG. 13, until the same yarn feeding finger is lowered to place the yarn back into a position where it can be picked up by the needles. It is at this point in the operation that the prongs 588 to 5880 cooperate with the recesses 587 to 5870 to perform their function of guiding the clamped yarns so as to require the same to be drawn longitudinally or endwise from underneath the clamping springs. In prior machines, the yarns were curved into a loop and pulled sidewise from under the end of the clamping springs. The object of pulling the yarn endwise is to avoid drawing out other yarns that it is desired to keep clamped under the springs. In the prior devices, the yarns were drawn sidewise instead of endwise and the yarn on the inside frequently had a tendency to pull the outer yarn out with it. This caused the outer yarn to slip from its position and resulted in skipping when it was again put into use.

It will be understood that a separate set of blades and yarn clamping or binding springs is provided for each yarn feed station of the machine. Thus, the springs 5890 and the shear blades 580a and 582a clamp and sever the yarns fed at the No. 1 feed. The springs 58% and the blades 58012 and 582b, respectively, clamp and sever the yarns at the No. 2 feed. The springs 589C and the blades 580c and 5820 clamp and sever the yarns at the No. 3 feed. And finally, the springs 589 and the blades 580 and 582 clamp and sever the yarns at the No. 4 feed. The advantage of this arrangement is that the angular reciprocating movements of the needle cylinder 262 can be quite small and still be adequate to pull the yarns into proper binding and shearing positions.

Special provision is made for clamping an elastic or rubber yarn Y to hold it while it is being cut by the blades 580a and 582a. To this end, a small binder plate 591 (FIGS. 13 and 15) is mounted upon the relatively larger binder plate 574 by a plurality of screws 592. A clamping spring 593 is mounted upon the upper surface of the binder plate 591 by a screw 593a. A pin 594 is also mounted on the binder plate 591 adjacent the spring 593 and serves to position the yarn for cutting by the blades 10 580a and 582a (FIG. 13), the spring 593 holding the yarn clamped against the top of the binder plate 591 after it has been severed. The underside of the binder plate 591 is hollowed out to space it from the clamping springs 589a so as not to interfere with the operation thereof or with any of the yarns clamped by said springs.

The yarn cutter mechanism assumes the position shown in FIG. 11 during normal knitting. That is to say, the lower face of the disc 576 is disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane as the lower edge of the sinkers 289. However, said mechanism is adapted to be manually .raised or pivoted about the shaft 546 to permit the operator to raise the binder plate and cutter assembly when it becomes necessary to make adjustments to the needles or to any of the mechanisms that this plate would obstruct while in its normal working position. The assembly is locked in its lowered or operative position by a latch 600 (FIG. 11) pivotally mounted upon a pivot screw 601 carried by one of the blocks 549. The latch 600 has a lower notch 602 for the reception of a pin 603 carried by the frame plate 541. The latch 600 is maintained in locking engagement with the pin 603 by a tension spring 604, one end of which is secured to a screw 605 at the lower end of the latch 600 and the other end of which is secured to a screw 606 mounted on the block 549.

The latch 600 is provided with a second notch 607 disposed above the notch 602. The latch 600 is adapted to be manually pivoted about the pin 601 to disengage the latch from the pin 603, whereupon the cutter head assembly can be manually raised until the pin 603 reaches an elevation where it is engaged by the notch 607. Once the pin 603 is received in the notch 607, the spring 604 will function to hold the latch in engagement with said pin and thus retain the cutter mechanism in its raised, inactive position. The pawl 556 is preferably retracted manually before the cutter mechanism is raised, in order to avoid possible turning of the ratchet wheel 554 out of phase with the rest of the machine as an incident to the pivoting of the cutter mechanism about the shaft 546. Of course, when the cutter mechanism is lowered, the pawl 556 will ride over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 554 without effecting rotation thereof since the drum 553 is held by a brake comprising a block of friction material 553a carried by a spring strip 55317 secured to the plate 541 by a screw 5530'.

Intermittent rotary movement is imparted to the yarn cutter control drum 553 (FIG. 11) by oscillation of the plate 555, the pawl 556 carried by the plate acting to impart a step-by-step movement to the ratchet wheel 554. Such oscillation is effected by a series of twenty-four individual cams 608a, see FIGS. 16 and 5, mounted on the 10th race of the control drum R6 and is also affected by the quarter turn shaft 176 as will be explained hereinafter. The object of using both the control drum R6 and the quarter turn shaft 176 as a means of revolving the cutter control drum 553 is to permit said drum to be moved as desired, independently of, or without moving the drum R6, and to utilize the drum R6 to reset the cutter control drum so that it will be in the same position at the starting point of each stocking, as will be explained more fully later.

Oscillation of the plate 555 is effected through a link 608 (FIG. 16), one end of which is pivotally connected to the plate 555 at 609 (FIG. 11), and the other end of which is connected at 610 (FIG. 16) to one arm of a bell crank lever 611. The lever 611 pivots on a pin 612 carried by a block 613 secured to the top plate 34 by a screw 614. The other end of the lever 611 is connected to one end of a link 615 and the other end of the link is connected to a kick lever 616 fulcrumed on the pin 481. The kick lever 616 has an offset end which is adapted to be successively engaged by the twenty-four cams 608a mounted on the 10th race of the drum R6. A tension spring 618, FIGS. 11 and 12, has one end thereof connected to a screw 619 mounted on top of the post 4001) and its other end is connected to a screw 620 carried by the plate 555. The spring 618 tends to turn the plate 555 counterclockwise about the shaft 546 to retract the pawl 556 in preparation for the next move of the ratchet wheel 554. It will be obvious that each time the offset end of the kick lever 616 rides up onto one of the cams 608a, it will actuate the link 6-15, lever 611 and link 608 to pull the plate 555 downwardly as viewed in FIG. 11. The spring 618 also serves to urge the offset end of the lever 616 toward the drum R-6 as the end of said lever rides ofi one cam 608a and up onto the next cam. The drum R-6 normally assumes a stationary position, between moves, in which one of the cams 608a is engaged with the lever 616, so that when said drum starts a move, the pawl 566 is retracted as a cam 608a moves out of contact with the lever, and said pawl is advanced as said lever rides up the next cam 608a at the completion of the move of the drum.

The kick lever 616 has a long arm 616a, FIG. 16, adapted to be engaged by a roller 621 mounted upon a collar 622 fastened to the quarter turn shaft 176. As the shaft 176 is rotated, the roller 621 will engage the arm 616a to effect oscillation of the kick lever 616 in the same manner accomplished by the cams 608a. One end of a spring 623 is connected to the lever portion 616a and the opposite end of said spring is connected to the post 4001: and further aids in urging the offset end of the kick lever 616 toward the drum R-6.

Should the yarn severing mechanism fail to severe any yarn taken out of action, then an automatic stop control mounted on the cutting mechanism goes into action to stop the machine. This control comprises a piece of insulating material 571a (FIG. 14) secured to the block 571 by a screw 57115. A resilient spring 5710 has one end thereof connected to the insulating material 571a by a screw 571d. The opposite end of the spring is straightened to provide a flexible contact finger 571e, which extends through holes in a binder plate 574 and a disc 576. One end of an electric wire 571 is held in contact with the screw 571d by a nut threaded on the shank of the screw 571d.

It will be noted from FIG. 14 that the contact finger 5712 extends across the gap or groove 5760 between the binder plate 574 and the disc 576. The contact finger 571e is located inwardly from the periphery of the binder plate 574 a sufficient distance such that said contact finger would not be engaged by any of the yarns during normal knitting. However, should the yarn cutting mechanism fail to sever a yarn taken out of action, the fugitive yarn will enter the space 576a and tend to wrap around the boss 578 and in doing so will pull the contact finger 5712 against the side of the hole in the binder plate 574 and complete a circuit to the relay 521a (FIG. to thereby energize the relay and interrupt the motor circuit, as will presently be described.

The circuit for controlling the motor and for automatically stopping the machine when a yarn breaks or has excessive slack, or when the yarn cutting mechanism fails to sever a yarn taken out of action, is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 10. As is here shown, the main line conductors A and A have a double pole main switch 102 connected therewith, which serves as a safety switch to cut off all current to the machine when the switch is open. The conductors A and A are connected to contacts B and C, respectively, in the three pole electromagnetic switch 97. A conductor E connects the line A to a third contact F in the switch 97. Contacts B, C, have continuations of the line conductors A and A connected thereto and extended to the electric motor 48. A contact F of the switch 97 is connected by a lead M to one end of the primary coil of a transformer P and the opposite end of said coil is connected by a lead M to the conductor A. One end of the secondary coil of the transformer P is connected to ground as indicated at K and 12 its opposite end is connected by a conductor 52% to one end of the coil of the normally closed relay 521a.

A wire 0 connects the conductor A to one end of the holding coil U of the switch 97 and a Wire V connects the opposite end of the coil to a contact W associated with the STOP button 96 and another contact W associated with saidSTOP button is connected by a wire 521c to one of the contacts Z of the normally closed relay 521a. The other contact Z of said relay is connected by a wire 521d to the conductor a. A wire 521a connects the conductor A with a contact associated with the START button 95, and the other contact 95 is connected to the contact W by a wire 521 A wire 532a connects the contact bar 532 with the other end of the relay coil 521a, and the conductor 571 which extends from the contact finger 571e, is connected with this same end of the relay coil. The entire machine may be considered grounded and, hence the take-up wire 521 is shown grounded at K, and the binder plate 574, and disc 576 are shown grounded at K. The outlets 93 may be connected with the conductors A and A ahead of the switch 102.

It will be apparent that when the main switch 102 is closed and the START button 95 is depressed, the circuit to the holding coil U of the switch 97 will be completed from line A, through the wire 521e, contact 95', START button 95, contact 95', wire 521i, contact W, STOP button 96, contact W, Wire V, coil U and Wire 0 connected with the line A. Upon completion of the circuit, the coil U will move the armature of the switch 97 to complete the circuit across contacts B-B, C-C to thus complete the circuit to the motor 48. The circuit is also completed across contacts F-F' in the line connected with the primary coil of the transformer P.

It will be understood that the START button 95 does not remain engaged with the contacts 95 and 95" after the coil U has closed the switch 97. Therefore, when the STOP button 96 is manually depressed, the circuit to the holding coil U is broken and the switch 97 opens to break the circuit to the motor 48 so that the motor stops. It will also be apparent that the armature of the relay 521a is connected in series with the STOP button 96, so that stopping of the motor 48 can be effected by opening of the relay, and the relay serves as part of an automatic stop mechanism for the machine.

The relay 521a can be arranged to be opened to stop the machine by any number of control devices on the machine, although only two stop controls are disclosed herein. Thus, as shown in FIG. 10, the binder plate 574 and the disc 576 are connected to ground at K", so that when the contact finger 571a is moved into engagement with either the binder plate 574 or disc 576 by a fugitive yarn, the circuit to the relay coil 521a will be completed, and the relay energized to open the circuit to the motor 48, by creating a break in the circuit between the relay contacts Z and Z, and effecting stopping of the machine.

The relay 521a is also adapted to be energized to open the circuit to the motor 48 when any of the take-up wires 521 engage the contact strip 532 or 532a. The take-up wires 521 are connected to ground as indicated at K. Hence, when a yarn controlled thereby breaks or has an excessive amount of slack, the wire associated with such yarn will engage a contact strip, the circuit to the relay will be completed, and the relay 521a will be energized to open the circuit to motor 48, whereupon the machine will automatically stop. Once the machine has been automatically stopped, regardless of the cause, it is necessary to manually depress the START button 95 in order to restart it.

Having thus described the invention in rather complete detail it will be understood that these details need not be strictly adhered to and that various changes and modifications may be made all falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a cylinder having knitting needles; means for driving said cylinder; means for feeding yarn to said needles including a yarn feed finger for placing a yarn in action and for taking said yarn out of action; and a yarn cutting device comprising means for clamping the yarn when taken out of action by said yarn feed finger, means for severing the yarn taken out of action, and means actuatable by the yarn taken out of action for interrupting the drive of said cylinder in the event that said yarn has not been severed.

2. In a knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities, means for driving said knitting machine; means for feeding yarn to, and withdrawing yarn from, said knitting instrumentalities; means for severing a yarn taken out of action; and means for automatically interrupting said driving means in the event that the yarn taken out of action is not severed by said yarn severing means.

3. A yarn cutting device, comprising: a hold-down plate for holding down a knitted fabric; a binder plate having a portion spaced from said hold-down plate to provide a space therebetween; means on said binder plate for clamping a yarn to be severed; means for severing the clamped yarn, and a contact finger spaced inwardly from the edge of said binder plate and projecting through said binder plate into the space between said hold-down and binder plates at a point space inwardly a sufiicient distance from the outer edge of said binder plate so that it is not engaged by a yarn during normal knitting but is adapted to be engaged by a yarn taken out of action and held by said clamping means in the event that said severing means fail to sever said yarn.

4. A yarn take-up device, comprising: a support; a shaft rotatably mounted upon said support; means for imparting intermittent rotary movement to said shaft; a drum fixed to said shaft; pins carried by said drum; an arm pivotally mounted upon said support and having a lug engageable by said pins; a block pivotally mounted upon said support; a yarn take-up wire carried by said block and extending downwardly from said block on one side of said pivotal mounting and carrying yarn guide means at the lower end thereof; a post extending downwardly from said support and carrying fixed yarn guide means above and below the yarn guide means of said take-up wire; a pin extended laterally from said block on the diametrically opposite side of said pivotal mounting and being engageable by said arm; spring means normally urging said arm against said pin; and relatively weaker spring means connected with said block on one side of said pivotal mounting, whereby when said lug is engaged by one of the pins on said drum, said relatively weaker spring means will rotate said block about said pivotal mounting and tend to swing the lower end of said arm away from said fixed guide means to thereby take up slack in the yarn.

S. In combination, a cylinder having knitting needles; means for feeding yarn to the needles including means for placing yarn in action and taking yarn out of action; a device for severing yarn taken out of action including a frame; means supporting said frame in operative relation to said needle cylinder; a binder plate carried by said frame provided with means for clamping yarn taken out of action; means for adjusting said frame to center said binder plate with respect to said cylinder; and means for severing yarn taken out of action by said yarn feeding means.

6. A knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities; means for driving said knitting mavine; means for feeding yarn to, and withdrawing yarn from, said knitting instrumentalities; means for taking up slack in a yarn while the yarn is being fed; means for automatically rendering the take-up means inactive when the yarn associated therewith is taken out of action; means for severing the yarn taken out of action; means for clamping said yarn while it is being severed; and means for automatically interrupting said driving means in the event that the yarn taken out of action is not severed by said yarn severing mechanism.

7. In a knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities, means for driving said knitting machine; means for feeding yarn to said knitting instrumentalities; a yarn severing device including frame means; a drum rotatably mounted upon said frame means; cam means on said drum; a lever pivotally mounted upon said frame means and adapted to have one end thereof engaged by said cam means; a fixed blade and a movable blade carried by said frame means; means adjacent said blades for clamping a yarn to be severed; means connecting the opposite end of said lever with said movable blade for actuating said movable blade to sever a yarn held by said yarn clamping means; and means for automatically interrupting said driving means in the event that the yarn taken out of action is not severed by said yarn severing mechanism.

8. In combination, a cylinder having knitting needles; means for feeding yarn to the needles including means for placing yarn in action and taking yarn out of action; a device for severing yarn taken out of action including a frame; means supporting said frame in operative relation to said needle cylinder; a binder plate carried by said frame provided with means for clamping yarn taken out of action; means for adjusting said frame to center said binder plate with respect to said cylinder; means for severing yarn taken out of action by said yarn feeding means; and means for automatically interrupting said driving means in the event that the yarn taken out of action is not severed by the yarn severing means.

9. A knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities; means for driving said knitting machine; means for feeding yarn to, and withdrawing yarn from, said knitting instrumentalities; means for severing a yarn taken out of action; means for normally clamping the severed yarn; and means for automatically interrupting said driving means in the event that the yarn taken out of action is not severe-d by said yarn severing means.

10. A knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities; means for driving said knitting machine; means for feeding yarn to and withdrawing yarn from said knitrting instrumentalities; a take-up wire for taking slack out of the yarn while the yarn is in action; means for severing a yarn taken out of action; means for normally clamping the severed yarn; means for automatically rendering said take-up wire inactive when said yarn is taken out of action; and means for automatically interrupting said driving means in the event that the yarn taken out of action is not severed by said yarn severing means.

11. A knitting machine, comprising: a needle cylinder; means for driving said needle cylinder including an electric motor; a plurality of conductors for supplying current to said electric motor; a conventional control switch connected with said conductors and in circuit with said motor and including a start button and a stop button; a transformer having its primary coil connected across two of said conductors; a normally closed relay having contacts connected in series with said stop button; the secondary coil of said transformer having one end thereof grounded and its other end connected with one end of the relay coil, the opposite end of said relay coil being adapted to be connected to ground to effect energization of the relay coil; and means for grounding said relay coil to actuate said relay to open the circuit to said motor to stop the machine, said last named means comprising: yarn feed means for placing a yarn in action and for taking a yarn out of action; yarn severing means for severing a yarn taken out of action; and a contact finger on said yarn severing means connected in circuit with said relay coil and adapted to be moved to a grounding position by a yarn taken out of action but which, through inadvertence, has not been severed by said yarn severing means, whereby the contact finger is actuated by an unsevered yarn to complete the groundingcircuit to the relay coil and open the relay to stop the machine.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Ruth 66145 Taggart 66-135 Getaz 66-140 C-loutier 66146 Lawson et a1. 66-163 Hayes et a1. 66-163 Auble 66146 X Cloutier 66146 Berg 66,-146 Palmer 66140 X Truitt 24237 Miller 66-140 Jenard et a1. 66146 X She-1111i re 66140 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, Examiner.

W. C. REYNOLDS, Assistant Examiner, 

2. IN A KNITTING MACHINE HAVING KNITTING INSTRUMENTALITIES, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID KNITTING MACHINE; MEANS FOR FEEDING YARN TO, AND WITHDRAWING YARN FROM, SAID KNITTING INSTRUMENTALITIES; MEANS FOR SEVERING A YARN TAKEN OUT OF ACTION; AND MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY INTERRUPTING 